Thanks so much Odan. A pleasure to be a member of this forum. I started collecting ancient agate beads 25years ago when I used to travel a lot through India and Asia for work. For years I though I was alone in my obsessing with this type of bead but now with the internet it is great that there is a community of good folk who appreciate the same beads. I'm happy to be here and will try to get some photos of my modest collection up to share them with other members.

Simon,
There are some of us on the forum like you that collect ancient stone beads and I am one of them. I am looking forward to seeing some of your beads.

Below is a handful of a few of our Bactrian beauties.

Welcome to the forum.

All my best ....... Danny

Its nice to see a person like Simon who seems to have a good eye and knowledge of Indus valley beads joined this forum.

Wow Nisheda! That string of Bhaisajyaguru beads is absolutely second to none! Danny/Lopacki that handful of Bactrian beauties is quite a handful, and nice eyes! Amazing, I have spent ages just looking at those photos and I am humbled that such fanfare greets my arrival on the forum...Thank you.
My beads are pretty modest but I love them each one has a story and a place in my life.
I'll try to post a photo on the forum here and see if I can make it work.
I believe this is possibly an Indus bead, it came my way in Nepal in the early nineties. It has the eye of the Swayambhunath temple on it, as well as several other eyes, and it continues to protect its owners across the centuries to this day! 48mm long. At one point I think it was larger but it has lots of end wear since the break. The stringing hole is 5mm at one end and 3mm at the other, it is polished the whole length to a high gloss.

bead pic didn't work, try again

third time lucky

I agree that your bead is most likely from the Indus valley. Suzi and I have been blessed with some excellent connections for Indus beads. We have quite a few beautiful Indus beads here is an image on one of them.

Keep posting images as we all enjoy seeing other collectors beads.

All my best .... Danny

Wow another stunner Danny! I have never had the opportunity to see these large biconical Indus types in the flesh. One day maybe.
This photo is of my favourite bead, I was in the mountains of Northern India near the border with Tibet. Each day I'd have lunch and a local tea shop run by a very nice Tibetan lady. The tastiest momos I ever had...
I noticed her Choong dZi and complimented her on it. She had two long multi strand freshwater pearl necklaces broken with turquoise and coral. The centre piece on one was a large gold pendant ad the other was this bead. She told me that while she liked the dZi she wanted another gold pendant. As it happened I had some 24k gold with me... back in those days taking gold was better than cash and you could turn a profit because of the hefty import duties. I told her this and she offered to trade her dZi for a tola of gold(10 grams). The next day I brought the gold with me and her husband and I walked to town, there we visited a goldsmith who tested the gold with acid. He proclaimed it pure. The dZi came into my possession right then and there.
The lady told me that her mother gave it to her and it had come from many generations of her grandmothers. I felt bad taking it so I went back every day for a couple of weeks and offered to swap it back. But she was very happy with the deal.
I often wear this bead. It has been very helpful to me and almost medicinal. There has been some very difficult times in life when this beads presence has helped me to stay balanced.... my troubles seem trivial when I think of all the owners who have had this bead. All their troubles now amount to nothing....and one day all mine will amount to no more than that. This bead continues its journey through the centuries, I am just a temporary custodian in a long line stretching back and forward through time for thousands of years.

Another lot of beads and another story. In the Mid nineties I worked in the gem cutting industry in the city of Jaipur. My friend knew I liked old beads so he introduced me to a rickshaw driver who had a string of them to sell. Well I figured fakes or a scam.....rickshaw drivers are dodgy the world over...often nice, interesting and funny people but dodgy.
Any way I was told to wait in front of the Palace of the Winds just down Johari Bazaar from where we had our workshop. Half an hour later he returned with a string of genuine Bhaisajyaguru beads. It cost me just under $200 us for 50+ beads. My girlfriend was appalled and convinced I'd been duped. She had no idea about ancient beads and I might as well have swapped our last item of value for a handful of magic beans. I told her that one day she would see I was right.....twenty years have passed. We are now married with a couple of kids.

50 Bhaisajyaguru beads for under $200, a bargain. Being able to say "I told you so"......priceless!

Wonderful beads and we both know that these beads are quite expensive by the bead today.

Here is an image of another very fine Indus valley bead Suzi and I purchased this year at Tucson.

Danny

Nice bead, Tola is equal to 11.33 grams, not 10 grams, at the most some people use it as 11 grams.

The other bicone bead is found in an unexplored IVC site. I have been researching some ancient sites for last 6 months now, i'll show some clay/ceramic beads, broken bracelets later.

Yes you are quite right a Tola is as you say more than ten grams. The trade was for a full Tola of gold but I couldn't remember the exact weight so I put a rough amount( i should have looked it up). In that particular valley they know exactly the weight of a Tola as it is the unit of measurement that the local product is sold in.....tourists only ever get a 10 gram "Tola" though, sometimes less...
Two wonderful beads you have show, beautiful colours!

Another day, another hanful of ancient beads...these were mostly purchased in the early nineties in Kathmandu, sourced from Tibet, there is a range of beads here with a few Indus and other types. These are some of the larger beads in my collection.